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If you've been putting off renting a film, buying an app, or downloading an ebook, you'll be glad to hear that it's sale time on the Google Play Store (again). That means all movie rentals now cost a buck, and the same goes for three episodes from TV programs, giving you the perfect excuse to watch the stinkers you missed at the cinema (like bonkers sci-fi headrush Valerian), and the shows you've yet to binge. What's more you can dive in to some peak drama with 50 percent off HBO Now for the first three months for new subscribers.

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entertainmentgeargooglegoogleplaygoogleplaybooksgoogleplaymoviesgoogleplaymusicgoogleplaystoremobileFri, 22 Dec 2017 03:00:00 -050021|23314759https://www.engadget.com/2016/09/19/google-wants-to-help-find-your-next-book-to-read/https://www.engadget.com/2016/09/19/google-wants-to-help-find-your-next-book-to-read/https://www.engadget.com/2016/09/19/google-wants-to-help-find-your-next-book-to-read/#comments
It doesn't matter if you've got the biggest or best shop in the world if you can't connect people to the things that they want. It's an issue that Google is hoping to address in its electronic bookstore with the launch of Discover, a new way to show people stuff they want to read. The service is designed to replace the human booksellers you used to find in Barnes & Noble, offering up recommendations and reviews for stuff you should read.
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booksdiscovere-readergeargooglegoogleplaygoogleplaybookspersonal computingpersonalcomputingreadingMon, 19 Sep 2016 13:00:00 -040021|21474793https://www.engadget.com/2016/07/21/google-play-books-bubble-zoom-comics/https://www.engadget.com/2016/07/21/google-play-books-bubble-zoom-comics/https://www.engadget.com/2016/07/21/google-play-books-bubble-zoom-comics/#comments

Google Play Books become more comic-friendly last year with addition of vertical scrolling. At this year's Comic-Con, Google is announcing another handy feature that will be reading the illustrated panels even easier. The tool is called Bubble Zoom and as you might expect, it detects and zooms in on those speech bubbles as you read. Before now, you had to use two fingers to zoom like you would in other apps. When reading graphics-heavy comic panels, that isn't an ideal solution. Thanks to the new tool, you can enlarge the text with a tap while still gazing at a full-screen view of the page.

Google's usage research indicates that most of us do a majority of our reading between 8 and 10 pm -- you know right before bed. But doing so in a dimly-lit bedroom can wreak havoc on your eyes, not to mention your circadian rhythm. That's why Google's newest update to its Play Books app includes a new feature called Night Light.

Is Google Play Books your go-to app for reading comic books? If so, your digital page turning is about to get a whole lot better. While the app is getting a number of updates, the most notable is the introduction of vertical scrolling. Rather than having to flip to the next page, which can be a bit awkward when it comes to comics on a phone or tablet, simply turn your device to landscape mode and scroll vertically with a swipe. There's a curated series section too, organizing volumes, issues and editions of some of the most popular titles. To help you find new reading material, the app will also offer personalized recommendations based on what you're reading. Just as a reminder, Google Play Books houses comics from major publishers like DC Comics, Marvel, Image, IDW and Dark Horse. The update is rolling out to Android users "over the next few days" and iOS is said to follow soon after for users in the US, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, India, Singapore, Ireland, New Zealand, and South Africa.

Oyster's experiment with a Netflix-like subscription service for e-books appears to be coming to a close... at least, in its current form. The startup is warning customers that it will shut down its all-you-can-read service over the course of several months. As it explains, the team has decided that the best way to pursue its mobile reading dream is to take on "new opportunities." While it's not initially clear what this means, Recode has confirmed that "a portion" of Oyster's staff (including its CEO and co-founders) are jumping ship for Google's Play Books division. In short, this is an indirect acquisition -- Google is snapping up the core of the company without buying all of its assets.

Google Play Books and DC Entertainment are showing off their super friendship once again, but, this time, for readers who'd rather consume comics in bite-sized portions. As of today, you can grab single issues from the publisher directly from Mountain View's media market. To celebrate, there's even a sale on the likes of Aquaman and Adventure Comics for $0.99 an issue, while a handful of others including Batman and Green Arrow are under $3 apiece. As the senior vice president of DC's Vertigo label has told CNET, its Google customers were happy but kept asking for single issues. As a result, the outfit beefed up its back-end to accommodate the weekly storefront schedule, and now you should have new issues 52 times a year. See? Further proof that if you really want a company to do something, all you have to do is ask politely.

We hope you weren't too attached to Google Play Books' PDF upload support on Android, because you just lost it -- albeit temporarily. Following some code sleuthing, Android Police has confirmed that Google removed PDF uploading; for now, you're limited to transferring EPUB books. The PDF support was experimental, Google says, and should come back with a future app update. That's unfortunate for anyone hoping to save documents to Play Books, but we won't object too much when there are at least a fewalternatives for sending PDFs to the cloud.

Google just made it easier to transfer virtual libraries to Play Books, now that you can upload digital tomes straight from Android phones or tablets. Thanks to the software's latest update, there's no need to go the Play website to add EPUB or PDF files to your account. Simply click an e-book through an Android file manager -- or download it if it's attached to an email -- to get the "Upload to Play Books" prompt. The refreshed app also promises to open files more quickly and smoothly, although we didn't notice any significant upgrade in speed when we tested it out. Other than these two changes, the latest version lets you read any book in landscape mode and comes with the ability to dismiss recommended titles. Finally, you can now take the reader's brightness down a notch to make reading in the dark easier for the eyes.

Google Play Books' expansiontour has just made an important stop in South America. As of today, bookworms in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela can browse Google's virtual shelves from Android, iOS or the web. The wider access sadly doesn't include movies, music or periodicals, but locals who want to read up on everything from Machu Picchu to Medellin should be happy.

Turns out Google Play Books' arrival in India was merely the beginning of its burgeoning love affair with Asia. From the land of the Taj Mahal, it has made its way to eight new locations in the region: folks living in Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Taiwan and Hong Kong can now buy digital tomes from Mountain View. Play Books' latest journey doesn't stop there, though -- it has also donned its best hobbit garments to travel even more south and go on an adventure in New Zealand. It often takes a long time for services born in the US to land in other locations if they even do, so this counts as a huge victory for potential users living in those countries. Now, if only Google Music could follow suit...

It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

Google promised us that it would offer textbooks through Google Play Books this month, and it's living up to its word. American students can now buy educational titles or rent them for six months, with prices frequently undercutting paper editions. Appropriately, Google has updated its Google Play Books app for iOS to support rentals like its Android and web counterparts. The launch is a painful reminder that the fall semester is just around the corner, but college-goers who want to be prepared can check out the source links.

With the exception of a brief mention in Google Play for Education, Mountain View's book platform was all but absent from its Google I/O presentation. Still, the service is getting updated with a significant new feature: user uploads. It hasn't rolled out to all users yet, but those with access are now able to add up to 1,000 PDF and EPUB files to their Google Play online library. Both the Android and iOS versions of the app will be able to read these files starting today. The update brings a standard assortment of stability and performance improvements too, and Android users will see a few minor visual tweaks. Check out the source link below to see if the feature has rolled out to your account, or click here to peek at Google's biggest I/O announcements.

Despite going on quite the worldtour, Google Play Books hasn't been available as close by as Mexico. That's been rectified: the online bookstore is now open in the country, with both local titles and prices in Pesos. As with some other countries, the expansion also gives Mexicans their first real taste of Google Play content beyond Android apps. Those who have a Galaxy in Guadalajara just need to start browsing.

Google Play Books has been on a slow worldtour that hasn't given Asia much love. Google is addressing that regional deficit in grand fashion today by launching its digital bookshop in India. The collection includes the expected blend of local and international titles, although the Books expansion is almost more important as a milestone for Google's overall content strategy in the country -- it's the first instance of anything besides Android apps reaching India's Google Play Store. In an appropriate (if not necessarily intentional) pairing with the launch, Google has also pushed out a worldwide update to the Books app for Android that lets readers filter books by type and identifies place names on the existing page. The news will still be happiest for those eager to read in Rajkot, but there's a little for seemingly everyone at the source link.

If you like having your classics read to you by your handheld device but don't care for the usual robot-stuck-in-a-well tones, Google Play Books has been updated with a more dulcet option. The "read aloud" function (which has been around for several versions, despite Google saying it's new) now has a high quality voice option, which only works if you're connected to the internet. We gave it a whirl ourselves, and it's now far more tolerable to listen to "Oliver Twist" or other flowing text books, thanks to a more natural sounding voice -- as heard in the audio file after the break. In addition, Google has added pinch or double-tap zoom options, text editing features for notes, personalized recommendations and "numerous bug fixes and performance enhancements." To give it a look (or listen) for yourself, check the source for more info.

If you've taken advantage of the myriad Black Friday deals on mobile devices and PCs, you're probably looking for content to feed the technology beast. Google and app creators are pulling out all the stops to make sure that beast stays full: Google Play has discounts throughout the Thanksgiving weekend for just about every format on offer. Android apps are the highlight, with SwiftKey 3, Shadowgun and Documents To Go on the list of those with grander price cuts, although there's some definite bargains to be had in media. Among the picks are price drops on books like The Hobbit, movies like The Big Lebowski and Serenity, and music from the likes of Diana Krall and Kendrick Lamar. We can't possibly mention every offer here, so check our links for some of the larger deals.

Not content at stopping with its recent Europeantour, Google Play Books has made the trip to Japan and brought back a handful of new features. In addition to support for reading Japanese books in a vertical, right-to left layout, Mountain view now lets users tap on names of geographical spots within text and see them pinned to a Google Map alongside the option to find more information using Larry Page's favorite search engine or Wikipedia. A freshly added translation feature takes user-highlighted words and phrases and spits them out in the reader's language of choice. Particularly studious literature lovers can now mark up their digital books with notes and highlights that sync to the web and across their personal fleet of devices. A new sepia tone theme also joined the existing day and night views on their journey abroad. Hit the source links below for more details and the download.

Google would really like you to grab more content from Google Play. Really. Just to drive its point home, the company has subtly introduced a Recommended for You section across the app and media portals of the Google Play Store on Android devices. The recommendations build on what we've seen through the web and go by similarities to other users, regional tastes and (naturally) +1 clicks. Don't worry that you'll be stuck with endless lists of Sudoku games after you download one on a lark: you can hide individual suggestions to thin the ranks. Recommendation systems aren't anything new for mobile stores, but Google's implementation is no doubt a useful tool for both Android fans moving beyond the basics as well as developers that would like to accelerate an already brisk app download rate.

Germans, grab your reading glasses, for it's today that Google is announcing the arrival of Play Books -- complete with the ability to purchase native language texts -- in the land of the Kant and Goethe. Yes, those in Deutschland may now buy and read titles from Google Play Books on their Android or iOS device of choice, and access the service via the web. In addition to Germany, Google's online bookstore is currently open for business in Australia, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. While the company has yet to disclose future markets for expansion, we hear the Bordeaux region is quite beautiful this time of year.

American Android users started getting carrier billing in Google Play early this month through T-Mobile (and later AT&T), and now Sprint can join the party. Any app, book, music or video purchase can be tacked on to the monthly bill for your EVO 4G LTE instead of going through Google. The move leaves Verizon as the only major US carrier without a carrier billing option, so you'll have to sit tight if you own the original US Galaxy Nexus and hate the thought of a separate download bill. We've also heard nothing about regional carriers being on the roadmap, but we'll keep you posted.

Don't feel like having media purchased through Google Play billed directly to your credit card? Well, now you can have those charges simply added to your monthly phone bill, provided you're on T-Mobile here in the US, or NTT Docomo, KDDI, or Softbank in Japan. According to Google's posting about the move, Sprint will soon be offering the option to pay for movies, books and movies purchased through Big G's market along side your voice and data plan. For T-Mobile subscribers that means both apps and content can simply be added to your tab, while AT&T is sticking with carrier billing for apps only at the moment. Conspicuously absent from the whole shebang, however, is Verizon, which has been one of the more prominent Android pushers here in the US. For a complete list of carriers with at least some direct billing features check out the more coverage link.

Google's Google Play Books market isn't just for Android devices. There's also an iOS app available to read content purchased on that market, and it's just been updated with some new features. Bookmarks let you place a bookmark by touching the top right corner. You can also highlight and even put notes on specific text as you read. You can search for and define certain bits of text, and use the +1 button to share whatever you're reading on Google Plus.

Are we too kind to pass on mentioning that iBooks already had all of these features, save for the Google Plus integration? Apparently not. But if you've got content on Google Play already, at least you'll have an easier time of reading it now, even on an iOS device.

The Android Market has morphed significantly since its inception, which now allows users to purchase books, music and rent movies, all from within a hub that was originally designed for just apps. To recognize this fundamental shift -- and emphasize the availability of content for sale -- Google is launching a new platform known as Google Play. The move hints at a strategy shift from just Android to the cloud as a whole, and establishes an umbrella brand for the diverse content sold by Google. For example, its Books, Music and Videos apps will now become Play Books, Play Music and Play Movies, while the Android Market itself will take on the moniker of Play Store. Users of Android 2.2 (and above) should notice the software update within the next few days, although other than the new name, initial changes should be minimal. We're also to be on the lookout for a new "Play" tab within the top toolbar of Google's website. To mark the occasion, the company has announced a promotional "Seven Days to Play" sale, which will tease would-be shoppers with discounted apps, books, movies and music throughout the week. For an additional peek at what's in store, you'll find the gallery below and a video after the break.%Gallery-149774%
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androidandroid marketandroidmarketappappsbookbooksebookebooksgooglegoogle booksgoogle moviesgoogle musicgoogle playgoogle play booksgoogle play moviesgoogle play musicgoogle play storegooglebooksgooglemoviesgooglemusicgoogleplaygoogleplaybooksgoogleplaymoviesgoogleplaymusicgoogleplaystorehdhdpostcrossmobilemobilepostcrossmoviesmusicplayplay booksplay moviesplay musicplaybooksplaymoviesplaymusicTue, 06 Mar 2012 13:00:00 -050021|20186493